Meet Munroe Falls Paranormal Society at haunted house

Friday

Sep 14, 2018 at 1:00 PM

Those who believe in ghosts or seek an explanation for strange noises can meet a group that studies the paranormal at a local haunted house and learn about their research.

The Munroe Falls Paranormal Society, a non-profit group of paranormal investigators and researchers, will have a booth Sept. 21 out front of the Hudson Haunted House, 2250 Barlow Road, in Oak Grove Park, from 7:30 to 11 p.m., manned by its team members ready to answer paranormal questions.

The Hudson Haunted House is open Friday and Saturday nights from 7:30 p.m. to midnight and Sundays 7:30 p.m. to 10 p.m. from Sept. 21 through Oct. 28 and an additional night Oct. 31. Matinees for younger children are from 1 to 4 p.m. on Oct. 7 and 21, according to its web page. The Haunted House has been run by the Hudson Jaycees for 46 years.

Munroe Falls Paranormal Society will have information on their group and will be showing past episodes of its YouTube TV series, Mysterious Midwest.

The MFPS celebrates 11 years, said founder and lead investigator Eric Haney. The MFPS team brings together a professional approach to solving paranormal phenomena.

Some employees who have worked at the Hudson Haunted House have reported seeing a ghost of the first Hudson Jaycee president named Charles who committed suicide.

Haney said they have investigated the Hudson Haunted House three times. The MFPS is a research and scientific group that tries to duplicate the event, researching the stories and people involved.

"We’re trying to get a repeat of what occurred the first time around," Haney explained.

"A lot of people who have worked at the Haunted House have experienced him," Haney said. "Patrons who have gone through the house have seen him."

Two years ago team members heard a disembodied voice and recorded it. The team member asked questions to get a response.

The haunted house has props all over like rubber rats that sit in various places, Haney said. A team member set a rat on a nearby table and said "Chuck, if you’re here with us, can you move the rat?"

In a couple of seconds, the team heard a deep, eerie voice that didn’t sound like someone in the room but disconnected from what would normally be heard on a recording, Haney said.

"Why me, why not you?" the voice asked.

It was a direct response, Haney said. Some workers said they had heard the male voice before.

"If you listen to this voice, it is incredibly clear," Haney said.

Although the team couldn't be sure the voice was from Charles, it was interesting, Haney said.

"That night we ended up having a lot of shadow play and there is no lighting in the house," Haney said. "We had several investigators who felt like they were being led through the maze to that particular area, which was very interesting."

The MFPS determines whether the sounds or sightings can be explained by machinery or outside contamination, he said. In typical situations, clients will have cold spots, hear whispers behind them, see shadow figures moving around, have feelings of being touched, objects moved or electrical disturbances.

"It doesn’t mean they are all related to something paranormal," Haney said. "We can explain some things."

The MFPS has had 540 cases in the past 10 years. Most of the episodes of Mysterious Midwest are in commercial or historical locations such as the Akron Civic Theater, Mansfield Reformatory and Moundsville Prison in West Virginia, he said.The MFPS helps educate the public and ease their mind with options.

"Some people have grandiose ideas from Hollywood about how the paranormal acts," Haney said. "We tell them it doesn’t act that way."

The MFPS tells them how paranormal activity happens, and stresses there is nothing to be afraid of.

Investigations begin with a request followed by a phone interview to find out details and determine if the claim is serious, Haney said. A small team may go out and do a site survey to interview the people, take pictures, do a safety inspection and look for obvious environmental contamination.

If a full investigation is needed, the team sets up equipment and conducts experiments to try to explain some of the experiences or occurrences, he said. Sometimes surveillance equipment is used for longer periods of time.

"The science involved in this is not a guaranteed science," Haney said. "We can’t offer a service, charge for it and fix the problem This is research."

The best evidence in a case correlates three things – visual evidence, audio evidence and instrumental readings, Haney said. That’s the gold standard.

"That does not happen all the time," Haney said. "We may get one or two only."

For more information go to www.munroe-falls-paranormal-society.com or to contact MFPS, go to eric@munroe-falls-paranormal-society.com.